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An Apple for the Creature
An Apple for the Creature (2012) — Anthology Editor and Authors Editor: Charlaine Harris, Toni L.P. Kelner Contributors: Ilona Andrews, Amber Benson, Rhys Bowen, Mike Carey, Charlaine Harris, Donald Harstad, Steve Hockensmith, Nancy Holder, Faith Hunter, Toni L.P. Kelner, Marjorie M. Liu, Jonathan Maberry, Thomas Sniegoski Genre and Sub-Genres Urban Fantasy Description What could be scarier than the first day of school? How about a crash course in the paranormal from Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner, editors of Home Improvement: Undead Edition? Your worst school nightmares—taking that math test you never studied for, finding yourself naked in school assembly, not knowing which door to enter—will pale in comparison to these thirteen original stories that take academic anxiety to whole new realms. ~ Goodreads | An Apple for the Creature Supernatural Elements Werewolves, various shifters, telepaths, vampires, magic users, angels, grindylow, magic users, poppets, magical bones, witch, evil witch, Pirate,, spell, conjugation, ghosts, Psychometry, Hoodoo ("conjure"), wormhole, magic user, Hungries (zombies), were-jaguar, grindylow, were-panther, Jewish myths, sentient mind-talking dog, werewolf seminar, ghostly ferry captain... Supe Glossary: * Telepaths: hear people's thoughts * Psychometry: divine history of an object by touch Organizations: * Death, Inc ("Callie Meet Happy") * PsyLED Spook School * Cutting Edge ("Magic Tests") * Seventh Star Academy ("Magic Tests") * Vampire Scene Investigations (VSI) ("VSI") List of Stories Synopsis by Story "Playing Possum" by Charlaine Harris — Sookie Stackhouse series #11.2 ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: In this never-before-published Sookie Stackhouse story, Sookie heads for her "nephew's" kindergarten class with treats for his birthday celebration. (Hunter is actually the son of Sookie's late first cousin, Hadley, but he calls her "Aunt Sookie" because it's easier that way. Hunter is a fellow telepath like Sookie.) When the crazed boyfriend of the school secretary shows up at the school with a gun, Sookie and Hunter's teacher must use every power they have to bring down the villain. ✥ This is a short story about Sookie and the day she had promised to come to Hunter’s school with cupcakes. The day turns out be a little more exciting than expected, since the secretary’s ex-boyfriends suddenly turns up, wanting to “talk” to her and bringing all kind of hell. "Spellcaster 2.0" by Jonathan Maberry COLLEGE: A team of cynical university students work on a research project that seeks to discover "the perfect spell". The spell that may well be the core magical ritual from which all of our world's religions have sprung." When dissension rises within the group, the students learn the importance of faith and the power of magic. ✥ One of the biggest non-believers is on a job to collect, translate and catalog every spell, conjugation, everything that had with magic, believes and religion to do into a program. A program, to tell why man believes, to see if there is anything in common through it all. "Academy Field Trip" by Donald Harstad ✥ LAW ENFORCEMENT ACADEMY: In one of the best stories in the book, two special agents and a deputy sheriff teach a class about solving unusual crimes to a group of experienced officers. When the instructors select one student to work on a special case involving vampires, their reasons for choosing her soon become clear. ✥ A team selected from the police force to go for a course to learn something new. Little do they know only one is interesting for the group of teachers. Picked for something special, there’s only one question: Will she believe before it’s too late? "Sympathy for the Bones" by Marjorie M. Liu ✥ ONE-ON-ONE TRAINING: As the story begins, the lead character witnesses a death and then tells us, "Later that night, I burned the doll that killed him." In this tale of deadly poppets and magical bones, an apprentice practitioner rebels against the cruel and powerful witch who trained her. The protagonist, who is the first-person narrator, is nicely drawn, as is her mentor, the evil witch, and the tension builds throughout the story as we wait to see just how far the narrator can be pushed before she pushes back. ✥ A story about a young girl who lost everything in this world. An old lady takes her in and teach her the trade of Hoodoo. Now she’s grown up and need to make her own decision; will she follow the old lady’s ways, or find her own path in life. "Low School" by Rhys Bowen ✥ HIGH SCHOOL: People say that high school is a hellish experience, and in this story Amy Weinstein finds that saying to be literally true. She finds herself in a school filled with bullying students and mean-to-the-bone teachers and is forced to remember a moment in her life when she made a bargain that had consequences she didn't really understand at the time. ✥ What do you do when you suddenly wake up, back in High school with NO recollection of how you got there? Amy Weinstein is in for a wild ride, trying to figure out where she is and how she got there. It’s like she’s trapped in her worst nightmare, but you should be able to wake from a dream, right? "Callie Meet Happy" by Amber Benson — Calliope Reaper-Jones #1.5 ✥ REMEDIAL WORMHOLE CALLING CLASS: Calliope (Callie) Reaper-Jones has to take a class in remedial wormhole calling because as the president of Death, Inc., she has to be able to transport herself around the planet without the help of her assistant. When the instructor forces Callie to call up a wormhole, she transports herself to a cold and snowy venue where she helps save a young woman from the clutches of a villainous magic user. ✥ Callie has taken over her father’s company Death, inc. after his death. Unfortunately, she has NO idea how to make a wormhole and she needs to figure it out fast, before anyone find out, or she will be the laughing stock of the entire company, not to mention her enemies will try and remove her from the post. So she’s stuck in Remedial Wormhole Calling class lead by the ever charming Mrs. Gunwhale. "Iphigenia in Aulis" by Mike Carey ✥ PRISON SCHOOL: This story uses the myth of Agamemnon and his daughter to tell a story set in a horrific world in which the Hungries (zombies) '''have taken over the world, and the non-infected have fled to California. As one teacher exclaims when a student asks a question about New York history, "...it's irrelevant. It's ancient history! The '''Hungries tore up the map. There's nothing east of Kansas anymore. Not a damn thing." In a prison on an army base, Melanie is one of a small group of children who, for unknown (at first) reasons, are kept in solitary cells and strapped down to wheelchairs when they are taken to their classroom. By the end, Melanie (and the reader) learn all of the heart-breaking facts. The story is open-ended. ✥ What happens when everything is changed? What if you were something …different than the adults you see every day? If you were being locked inside a room and only could leave it strapped to a wheelchair? When you had the chance to make a difference, to make a choice – your OWN choice, what would you choose? A different story about life after the world ended and how people react to the aftermath. "Golden Delicious" by Faith Hunter — Jane Yellowrock series #4.1 ✥ SPOOK SCHOOL: This story is part of Hunter's Skinwalker world, taking place after Raven Cursed and between the short story in Cat Tales and the novel, Death's Rival. The protagonist is Rick LeFleur, a former New Orleans detective who was bitten by a were-jaguar two months ago and is now going through training at the Psychometry Law Enforcement Division of Homeland Security (aka, PsyLED Spook School). Rick and his "partners," a permanently changed werewolf and a cuddly but deadly grindylow, must go through a tough final test before they are accepted into the PsyLED ranks. When someone attempts to sabotage Rick's chances, he and his team must work together to discover the truth. This story contains the quotation from which the book's title is taken: "Inside box was a golden apple on a gold chain. 'A Golden Delicious apple,' he said, 'for the...creature.'" ✥ Rick is an ex-cop. Not by choice, but by necessity. He was bitten by a were-panther, caught by a werewolf pack and tortured. Now he will always feel the need to turn when the full moon is there. Deemed to be dangerous for regular people, he was booted from the force. Now the PsyLED wants to try him on with a few other…'creatures'. Not everything is all roses and honey, one of the creatures that are a part of Rick’s new team was with the werewolf pack who caught Rick. "Magic Tests" by Ilona Andrews — Kate Daniels series #5.3 ✥ MAGIC ACADEMY: This story stars Julie, Kate and Cullen's adopted daughter in the Kate Daniels series. When Kate assigns Julie to find a missing student at the Seventh Star Academy, Julie finds herself involved in a case of magical jealousy and discovers that the Academy might not be a bad place for her to finish her education, particularly when she meets the handsome guy who helps her out on her case. ✥ Kate have been trying to get Julie enrolled into a school – many times. Each and every time, she has run off or caused enough trouble to get herself kicked out. Julie doesn’t see the necessity with school. All she wants is to be at Cutting Edge, the office Kate and Andrea is running. This time it’s different. Kate hasn’t taken Julie to this school to enroll her, but to get her to help the principal at the school. A student is missing and Julie is put on the case to solve it. Soon she finds herself deep into new and different magic and maybe even in bigger trouble than expected. "An Introduction to Jewish Myth and Mysticism" by Steve Hockensmith ✥ COLLEGE: Professor Andy Abrams is notorious for his preoccupation with his chosen field of study, Jewish myths and mysticism. When Robert, the abusive ex-husband of his colleague, Karen, comes back to town determined to get her back one way or another, Andy puts his magical talents to good use as he convinces Robert to turn right back around and leave—as quickly as possible. ✥ Professor Abrams is teaching when a friend of his comes into class; Professor Mossler. Mossler is afraid, her ex-boyfriend/husband is back into town and given the way he treated her the last time… Abrams’ tries to comfort her by giving her the advice to follow her original plan; to leave for the weekend with er friends. And maybe, just maybe things looks different Monday morning. "VSI" by Nancy Holder ✥ FORENSICS SCHOOL: Claire and Jackson are partner-agents in the Boston FBI field office. Claire is in the waning days of an unhappy marriage to Peter, and Jackson has the unspoken hots for his partner. When they are tapped for a special vampire task force, Claire gets some shocking family news, and the partners get jobs in a brand new FBI unit: Vampire Scene Investigations (VSI). ✥ Claire and Jackson are both FBI agents, working as partners. Both have been ordered out on a top secret hush, hush project for the feds. They’re put back on the school bench to learn about… vampires. Yup, you read right. Vampires. But not everything is as it seems and soon Claire’s world is turned upside down. "The Bad Hour "by Thomas E. Sniegoski — Remy Chandler series #5.5 ✥ CANINE OBEDIENCE SCHOOL: This is a story from the Remy Chandler series. When Remy is hired by a dog trainer to identify the source of a threat, he takes his sentient, mind-talking dog, Marlowe, along as cover and back-up. During their first visit to one of the client's obedience classes, the client's life is put in jeopardy, and Remy and Marlowe must partner up to take out the villain. ✥ Remy and Marlowe is taking it easy in the office, catching up on paperwork when they’re interrupted by a knock on the door. In steps Jacqueline Kinney, dog trainer with an extraordinary problem: something is scaring her dogs, and she can’t train because they all freak out. Remy decides to go undercover with Marlowe as new attendants at a beginner course. Remy and Marlowe combined is a force to be reckoned with and both quickly realizes something is terribly wrong. "Pirate Dave and the Captain’s Ghost" by Toni L. P. Kelner ✥ WOLFEN WISDOM SEMINAR: This story is part 2 of the Joyce and Dave adventures that began with "Pirate Dave's Haunted Amusement Park" in the anthology entitled Death's Excellent Vacation. This time around, Joyce is attending a werewolf seminar to learn the pros and cons of her relatively new shifter life style. Joyce gets way more than she signed up for when her relationship with her boyfriend, Vampire Dave, comes to the attention of a ghostly ferry captain and a human who specializes in supernatural research. ✥ Joyce has been invited to Talbot Seminar for werewolves. Joyce is different than the other weres. One: she got bitten AND she survived. Two: she’s not affiliated with a pack. Three: she lives in wonderful, glorious sin with a vampire. It makes her different, yes, but the other wolves are mostly interested in her, who she is as a person. Right until the lecture with Dr. Hogencamp. Dr. Hogencamp is a supernatural researcher who has a ghost on her “team”. A ghost who left this world in a very gruesome way: killed by a vampire. Cover Artist Artist: Lisa Desimini Publishing Information * Publisher: Penguin Books USA Ratings